Newspapers / Asheville Citizen (Asheville, N.C.) / Feb. 20, 1917, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of Asheville Citizen (Asheville, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
THE ASHE W LLE CITIZEN THE WEATHER FAIR. CITIZEN WANT ADS; BRING t RESULTS - ASHEVILLE, N. 0., TUESDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 20, 1917. vol. xxxm, no. 120. r PRICE FIVE CENTS GENERAL FUNSTON DIES SUDDENLY AT 1 ANTONIO , TEX. Commander of Southern De partment of U. S. Army Succumbs to Indigestion. HAD BEEN WORKING AT UNUSUAL PACE News Comes as Shock at Washington Pershing Takes Command. BAN ANTONIO, Texas, Feb. 19. Major General Frederick Funston, commander of the southern depart ment of the)United States army elnce February, 1916. died suddenly at a hotel here tonight a few minutes af ter he had finished dinner. He col lapsed while seated in the lobby of the hotel talking wJth friends, and was playing; with little Inez Sllverberg, of Des Moines, Iowa, a guest with her parents at the hotel, when he fell unconscious. Uoath was almost Instantaneous. General Funston was fifty-one years old. Had Worked Hard. Ever since March 1916, when he was placed in command of all United States forces on. the Mexican border. General Funston had worked at an unusual pace. At critical times in border developments he frequently re mained on duty twenty hours of the twenty-four. The handling of regu lars disposed of at various stations on the border, the Pershing expedition, and of late, rearrangement of regular troops while providing for the return or national guardsmen have entailed an enormous amount of detail work probably exceeding that which fell to any commanding general of the United states army since the civil war. Only today General Funston com. pleted orders for the return of the last of the guardsmen. Because of the amount of work which has fallen to . him. General Funston's only recrea- tion or relaxation for nearly a year lias Deen an occasional dinner party witn a row friends. I'ew Recreations. Qnjy recently- General FonBton Te turned from an Inspection trip which took him as far as Nogales, Ariz. That, wutn one trip to Brownsville. Texas, and a brief visit to Austin, Texas, last year, were the .only occasions when he has been absent from his desk since the border trouble developed. Two weeks ago General Funston suf fered at attack of indigestion. To use his own expression. "I fought it out alone." Later he placed himself un der the care of Lieutenant Colonel M. W. Ireland, of the medical corps, southern department, and regained normal health and spirits. "For three days," Colonel Ireland said tonight, "Oeneral Funston had been entirely well." Nevertheless, at dinner tonfght-Gen eral Funston was particularly ab stemious and ate only sparingly of the simplest dashes. Colonel Malvern-Hill Barnum, Gen eral Funston's chief of staff. Immedi ately notified the war department of General Funston s .death. News also was dispatched to Mrs. Funston, who PRESIDENT WILSON'S NEXT STEP WILL PROBABLY BE DELAYED FOR THE PRESENT Believed He Will Wait Until Near Close of Session Before Asking Congress to Give Him Additional Authority to Pro tect American Lives and Interests. (Continued on Page Two) DELAY IN BERNSTORFF'S LAST ONLY ABOUT WEEK Expected That Steamer Will Be Ready to Proceed by Saturday. GERMANS SATISFIED. HALIFAX, N. 8.. Feb. IB. The In terruption to the homeward voyage of Count von Bernstorff and other German diplomatic and consular of ficials formerly accredited to the Unit ed States, which was caused by the British government's Inspection here of the Scandinavian-American liner Frederlk VIII. probably will not be more than one week. It was Indicated tonight. The examination of passen gers which began on Saturdav was said to be half finished tonight, aiid ft was thought the steamer might be reaay 10 proceed Dy next Saturday. To date, so far as could be learned through the wall of secrecy surround ing the Inspection, nothing Jias de veloped to warrant any suspicion ef contraband. A lighter which has Deen alongside tne, ship for three days as a repository for any articles that might be of a doubtful nature, was still empty tonight.. - . For some of the officials who liar been aboard the Frederlk VII L it was understood tonight that the German passenger, from Count Bernstorff to the minor consular attaches, have im pressed themselves as satisfied with the manner In which the Inspection is being conducted. It was stated that the Germans have been sur prised at the consideration shown them. Although the Frederlk Vin and Us passengers ars stilt held by the regn latlons Imposed to prevent unsanc tioned communications with the shore, telegrams to Count von Bern storff and members of his tarty from various parts of the United States were delivered aboard ship today, I after passing through the hands of a censor. ...... WASHINGTON, Feb. 19. There were strong indi cations tonight that unless some sensational development precipitates immediate action, President, Wilson's next step in the crisis with Germany will be postponed until a few days before congress adjourns for the session a week from next Sunday. The belief still is prevalent in official quarters and at the capitol that the president intends to ask congress for authority to protect Americans and their ships from illegal submarine attacks, and as he is known to want no extra session if it can be avoided, it is regarded as certain that he will address a joint meeting of the senate and house before March 4. It was stated authoritatively again tonight, however, that nothing toward that end had been done since the president visited the capitol and discussed the subject with senators Saturday evening. Minority Opposition. Although recognizing the existence of minority op position in both houses to a resolution which would give the president authority to deal with any emergency that might anse alter adjournment, administration leaders are satisfied that if such power is sought it will be given. The minority contention is that the executive now has power to use the nation s armed forces short of war, and that if necessary the new congress could be called into session quickly. Demands that some way be found for relieving the congestion at Atlantic ports resulting from the holding of American and other neutral ships in port are pouring in at the white house and the executive departments. The disposition of the administration, however, seems to be to await further development of Germany's policy. It is freely admitted that American rights are being violated and the government defied, and that at what the president deems the proper time the United States must' assert itself. . . ,- . Release Americans "Shortly." Word came from the Spanish minister at Berlin to day that the American prisoners of the prize ship Yarrow dale would be released "shortly. The United States wii insist that, having been earned into Germany against their will, the men must be "given their freedom in some neutral country from which they may mak"e their way home. Those in charge of the work of preparing the nation for possible hostilities, which has gone steadily forward davand night since the severance ot diplomatic relations, believe it now has reached the stage where the country's Dull Days for Dan AUSTRALIAN BILL PASSES WITH T meermTHip imrr uiddu.iinm VII i r Senate Unanimously Passes Australian Ballot Bill For Western Counties. INDICATIONS THAT IT WILL PASS WOTTSW GERMANY SPENDS THOUSANDS OF MARKS KEEPING GERMAN SIDE OF WAR BEFORE THE PEOPLE OF NEUTRAL COUNTRIES Did Not Awake to Desirability of Having Her Side Represented in Neutral Press Until Long After War Had S arled Correspondents From Neutral Countries Have Experienced Constant x Diffkaliy in Getting Real News, of Conditions. (CONTCNUIGD ON FAGS TWO) TWO MEN CHARGED WITH VIOLATING NEUTRALITY OF THE JNITED SMS Secret Service Men Make Important Arrests at New York. HAD MANY AGENTS. CROP UEN BILL GIVEN FAVORABLE REPORT BY MINT COMMITTEE House Tables Bill to Pro hibit Sunday Golf in North Carolina. DOG TA IS PASSED. NEW YORK. Feb.' Agents of tne department of Justice arrested here tonight two men charted with violating the federal law against car rying on military enterprise against foreign country. Tney are ac cused of conspiracy to obUstrt military information in England to be sent, to this country and then forwarded ' to Germany. The men cave their names as Al bert A. Sander and Chaa. W. Wunnen burg;. The complaint against them was signed by Judge Learned Hand, of the United States District court. It charged them with conspiring - to emoloy agents to. obtain maps, photo graphs and other military information n England and Irol-u-.i for the bene fit of Germany. ' Bander, who Is thirty-five years old. Is president of the Centra Powers War Films .exchange, In this city. Wunnen burg, forty years old. Is his assistant. Counsel for the accused said' tonight that Wunnenburg has been a naturalised citizen of the Unit ed States for twenty-live years, j According to Wm. B Offley. dlvi sionat superintendent of the depart ment of Justice, the men are accused of sending to Great Britain agents who obtained information of military Importance which was transmitted to this country- in letter and packages written In invisible ink. mis inior- Sation, it is alleged, was disseminated the United 8tates to agents of the central powers, but "chiefly to those of Germany. ; - - Secret service agents had been working on the case for months. They began soon srter tne arrest in Eng land of Geo. Vaux Bacon, who claim ed to represent American newspapers. Bacons pnotograpn was forwarded to this country by the British au thorities and by means of it. Superin tendent Offley said, the secret service was able to connect him with the op erations of gander and Wunnen burg. Cltlsen Bureau. Raleigh. N. C, Feb.ruary II, (By W. 1. Martin.) The crop Hen bill received favor able report ' this afternoon at the bands of the Joint committee ta which It was referred after a hearing that continued through most of the after noon. Speakers In advocacy included President H Q. Alexander and Or ganlser Green, of the Farmers' un ion; Editor Clarence Poe. of The Pro gresslv Farmer, and others. Senator Gough, of Robeson, and former Congresman Patterson led the opposition. Tha bill limits nrnflt nf m-,-... on supplies under crop liens to ten ler cant. aimira tha aah n.in. u.i.. an inaiviauKii can rnarm a rnmmia- aion of ten per cent on money sup plied unaer crop liens in lieu of six per cent. Interest In the tious tonl-n tha hill i. hiblt Sunday golf was tabled. A number of leading members. In cluding Grier, of Iredell, were sup porting tbe bill.- and It looked like Sunday golf was doomed so far as the klltUa U MIIMPMfl Km sen tat Its Page got in an' amendment to meinpi jnoore county lor tne Sake of tha Plnehurst tmirlmtm . o a disgusted Mr- Grier and others with tne regulation wnen ins very place whera Ihara wii mm flnn. i . .. Inr than a n v nthey waa mmnii a Grier moved to table and tha measure was Duriru win overwhelming vote. . . , nia fiAiiaai ananl 4wa ImnM f . w Ing the Ray bill for a 'tatewlde dog t a mmA naaaail a ati hat i 1 1 , . .-m.-Ui- tbat any ceanty can vota on tha ques tion or iuini iqn on peuuon or one- I fifth of the qualified voters, ths tax to bo IL i ' ' ' F BERNE, Switzerland, Feb. 19. i (From a stall corref poondent of the Associated Press. 1 According to statements made to tbe correspondent before his departure Vrom Berlin with former Ambassador Gerard, by pub lic me i in Germany, the German gov ernment t did not : awaken until long after ths beginning of the war to the desirability of making a favorable im pression on public eplrrton in weutref countries, or least Jii, havinjr Us sldq of ths caro 'givet neaTflng in the neutral press, An outlay of untold hundreds of thodsandVof marks has since been made, with the employ ment of inconsiderable staffs of of ficers and. men and with constantly changing systems, in the effort to achieve the desired ends. ' Experience Difficulties. Correspondents from neutral coun tries have experienced constant diffi culty since the beginning of the war In attempting to report facts in an unbiased manner. In the thirtieth month of the war "Germany applied tha same newspaper methods to American, Dutch, Scandinavian and Spanish newspaper men as In the first months. The censorship has been the main source of trouble, largely be cause It has been working at cross purposes with the very officials who had it in their power to adjust the difficulties. These officials usually have recognized faults which have been pointed out and have made the most earnest efforts to facilitate the gathering of news but never have al tered materially the censorship uys tem which set at naught all they and ths correspondents did, effectually damming up the streams of news which had been opened. Shortly after the outbreak of the war. the for eign office mobilized consuls who sup posedly were familiar with foreign languages and Installed them as censors. In reality, few of them are well versed In any language except German, None of them has any con ception of newspaper work or any military or political knowledge which gives especial nuallflcatlon for the taak. Ths correspondents speedily cams Into conflict with these censors and tha government, discovering something was amiss, attempted to remedy the trouble. However, its ef forts ppnslsted of opening up addi tional channels of news which the censors stopped. The Central Bureau. The foreign office created the so called central bureau for foreign service, which flooded neutral coun tries with photographs and with lit erature written from the German standpoint, merely translated. Into Dutch, Swedish or Roumanian. This literature damaged rather . than as sisted the German cause In Holland, for lntance.: It was amended .when Dutch correspondents told the. for eign office 'that Holland desired, real news. The constantly Increasing number of correspondents in Germany, alt seeking an opportunity to see some thing of the war and to obtain news, led to the establishment of what was known as the Neutral War Press bu reau. Theoretically, , this bureau was headed by Major Deutelmoser. a man well qualified for the position, but he was so occupied with other things that he relegated thts work to a subordinate. This bureau r.lsted from October, 1915, until last summer. Under Its auspices correspondents traveled to I various fronts, submitting all dis patches for censorship ' It became apparent quickly that the bureau was at odds with the foreign ofnee. it sought to extend its jurisdiction so as to censor everything written, and while the censors clashed with those In the foreign office, the- corre spondents got the worst-of things. Everything Censored. As the weeks passed, the newspaper men found It almost impossible to write of the Interesting things they sa Furthermore the tendency of the bureau ,was to send them to points on the front where they saw little of importance. Everything they did write was censored, in each In stance according to the individual Ideas of the man to whom the dis patch was referred. Correspondents of whatever nationality were not dis posed to protest at suppression of military Information, but they did In sist that some degree of fairness be applied to their dispatches. The government eventually dis covered that the bureau was not a success under Major Deutelmoser's subordinate and also that its own press bureau for German newspapers was not operating as it should. In consequence there ."followed a re organization of the entire system. The men from the foreign office were displaced, although the old censors were retained. The neutral press bureau was shelved, except for the old censors. There was oreated a so-called military department of the foreign office, under Colonel von Haerten, a keen and wide-awake man, and Baron Plettenberg. both ot whom have 'an understanding, of foreign viewpoints. They were ruled by the convictions that neutral correspond ents were, ithe best - judges of what they desired. Colonel von ' Haerten provided fa cilities for obtaining the economlo as well as the military 'news- insistently asked for, and was able to send cor respondents to active points on the front. Nevertheless, he or those above him retained the-same censors, who up to the present have acted in an ar bitrary manner inexplicable to neu trals. For example, they frequently held back the very Information which had been furnished, by the military de partment itself, and refused to pass apparently innocent news items pub lished in the German press wnicn were picked up and telegraphed from Holland, Denmark or Switzerland, In some cases one correspondent's dis patch on a glvsn subject would be passed while an identical article from another would be held up. AU Oourtfwles. The military department succeeded in having an order issued on all fronts that correspondents were to be shown everything there was to be seen and that all possible courtesies were to be extended to - them, but the censors were then permitted to blue pencil the resultant dispatches. On the first trip arranged by the department, two American newspaper .men flew over the entire Homme sector in an air plane, in accordance with the order to show correspondents everything pos sible. Their ,-. reports of the battle seen from the air were suppresses. The air plane staff was brought up on the carpet and all but cashiered. The in cident was closed when one . corre spondent s story was released while the others was held up and la still among the archives at great head Will Mean Secret Ballot For the Tenth District and . Madison County. Citizen Bureau, Raleigh, N. C, February II. (By W. J. Martin.) Without a dissenting vote, the Aus tralian ballot bill, introduced by Sen- -ator Jones, of Buncombe, to apply to: h Tenth congressional district and Mtldiaon fniintv man , . . . this afternoon, and went to tha house with every prospect of panning that oouy without serious opposition. Tha bill as passed today was the emended form of the statewide bill first intro duced by Senator Jones. Senator Jones Takes Floor. when the bill came up for discus slon this afternpon, Senator Jones took the floor in its behalf. He did not question the right of the senator to opposce a statewide bill, if so a, sired, but explained that the people of the Tenth congressional district were in deadly earnest about wanting this measure, with Its consequent pro- . taction of the ballot box, and declared! that he could see.no good reason- why they should not be granted this form, of election law. , t ( - ' , .' Senator Jones went on to explain. ur years, ino people or western .v. North Carolina had been demanding n Australian ballot' law. He de clared that , his people' believed it , to be the only absolutely, fair and honest ' way of conducting ajn election, and tha only method which no politician had yet found a way to corrupt. HU plea, for tha western counties waa eloquent and effective, and when the. vote was called, net a voice waa raised against' the measure. . , n fi t (,. , ,,r , , ..i . Goes to Hoasev ! uAl.' The bill row i goes to the house,' ' without engrossment; and It Is expect- ed'to-pase that body without serious' apposition; as Representative Roberta ' and Crowell are known tet favor It.i with Its passage-in the boosertbe a will become a lawv and ' tha people - -ef Western North "Carolina will -vote under the Australian ballot law In all: elections following.' ' ' ' This Is the third time- an Australian : ballot bill has been offered n the state legislature, and eacji time a Bunoomhe county man has fathered the bin. On the two- previous occasions, the measure' died in the committee and never sot to a vote.' Senator Jones. - however, has been flghtlnjg for thls measure ever since his arrival at Raleigh,: and has been' making plans to secure support for It. When he found that a statewide bill Would meet' . with opposition, the Buncombe sen ator readily agreed to an amendment limiting the application of the law to Western North Carolina counties.- Interest ef the neonle 4n tha wast In the measure was manifested when (Continued on Page Two.) PROGRESS AGAINST THE. REVOLUTIONARY FORCES (Continued on Page Two.) NATIONAL GUARD UNITS ARE THANKED BY BAKER Secretary of War Expresses His Appreciation of Work Done on Border. WASHINGTON. Feb. U. Secretary Baker sent a letter of thanks today to the commanders of. all national guard units which saw service on the Mexican border. I wish to thank you and tha offi cers and men of your organisation who went to the border In response to the call of the president," 'wrote the secretary, "for the valuable service which vou have rendered to the coun try. When the national guard was called Into the service ef the federal soveanment. the lives or men, women and children along the frontier were In rrava- danger, owing to tbe for midable bandit raids from the Mexi can aide of the boundary. It Is not too much to say that had these raids continued there was danger of Inter national war. From tne time of tne arrival ef the units of the national guard on the border, tha raids ceased. nd the tension between wm iwo coun tries began to relax. - it Is the nope ana oeiter oi in government that the preeence of tne units of the national guard, together with tbe unit of tbe regular army, on the border and in Mexico, and the nrnHtiH-a In mobilisation camps of the units ef the national guard In readl torn anch service, has made pos sible a peaceful solution of a difficult aad problem." U.S.ARMORPLANT BOARD Johnson City Decorated and Board is Given Banquet by City. JOHNSON CITT. Tenn., Feb. 19. A cheering crowd of over 1,000 peo ple, waving flags, met the armor plate plant board Inspecting proposed sites for the $11,000,000 armor plato plant for the government when they arrived here on a late train from Bristol this afternoon. The party waa taken In automobiles and driven over tk. ...(! I .n,t, . 1. .... HfV l.T U I' I f LIU- W , ftllCII mere given a Danquei at a local notei. The entertainment committee waa headed by Congressman Samuel It- Bells and J. W. Ring. The town was elaborately decorated and the streets were crowded with people. The members of the board were en tertained with a luncheon at Bristol earlier in the day. Several sitae were shown there end speakers presented tbe advantages of that community for the proposed plant The board also received a committee at Bristol from Big Stone Gap. . The board will Inspect sites at Klngsport tomorrow and will go to Knoxville to the afternoon. From Xnoxville they will go to Chattanoo ga and thence Into Alabama, where they will spend tbe remainder of the week at Gadsdea. Birmingham, Tus ealnssa aad other points- MRS. DEWEY THANKS THE N. C. GENERAL ASSEMBLY Is Grateful For Resolutions Passed on Death of Ad miral Dewey. WASHINGTON. Feb. 19 Mrs. Geo. Dewey today sent to Senator Over man, of North-Carolina, a letter pressing her gratitude for resolutions adopted by tba North Carolina gen eral assembly voicing appreciation of Admiral Jjewey's services to the nation- She also enclosed a letter writ ten by Admiral Dewey, which showed mat a north Carolinian,.. James C Dobbin, -once secretary of the navy. appointed Admiral Dewey an acting miaampman in tne navy. "I wish you and the people of the country to know." said Mrs. Dewey, "that my husband felt for the pres ent secretary of the navy. Josephus Daniels (also a North Carolinian), a sincere affection. Only a short time ago the admiral said: 'I have been In the navy sixty-two years and have served under many secretaries of the navy, but Secretary Daniels is the beat secretary we ever had. and has done more for the navy than any other. I am amased by bis knowledge of tech nical matters. He has studied pro foundly and hijt opinion la founded on close observation.' " THE WEATHER. WASHINGTON. Feb. !. Forecast for North Carolina: Generally fair Tuesday and Wednesday; colder Wed nesdsy sad la west and central Washington Believes Peace Will Be Re-Established Without Intervention. 4 SUPPORTS MENOCAL, WASHINGTON, Feb. It. Reports , of progress by President Menocal'e . forces against Insurgent bands In 1 Cuba. Increased the hopea of admin istration officiate today that peace , may be -re-established In the island without American Intervention.- Itv has been . made plain that the full , moral support of the United States government will be given the Menocai," administration, and It was said late, today that no additional steps were in. -contemplation for the present Orestes Ferrera and RaJmundo Ca.. brera, spokesmen for tbe liberal par ty, are here to represent the rebels' r before the state department, but it was said at Secretary Lansing's office' that no effort had been made by them -so far to see any one connected wan - the government. It waa intimated that they would not be received representatives - of the rebels, and that in ths present situation little con- aideration would be given any repre sentations they might make, , An agreement between the Ameri can naval commander at Santiago and -the rebel governor to keep out of the harbor all but foreign vessele was ex plained as an expedient designed to ; prevent the closing of the port. The rebel governor agreed not to mine the channel In return for the naval com mander's promise to see that Cuban government boats do not enter. The rebels appeared to have made '. no marked progress, according to to day's official reports, which added -that some of the regular army which had gone ever to tbe revolutionary ' ' Sarty In the earlier days of the revolt. , ad rejoined the government force. The euggeartton that a state depart ment commission be sent to Cuba to review the election returns still Is un- -der consideration, but it appears nrahahla tliMt a iM-f.ln- m tha ttmrwt sltlon will not be baotcned. Praelden Menecal's decree postponing the epe- . rial election to have been held in Orient province tomorrow. Is regard ed ae a step toward clearing the tU--tlo . , ortlona Tuesday, i
Asheville Citizen (Asheville, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Feb. 20, 1917, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75